The 130-foot tall Christ the Redeemer statue was struck by lightning in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, during a Sunday thunderstorm. As you can see above, the strike made for a pretty amazing photograph. Thankfully, the monument suffered only minimal damage as a result of the jolt.
Back in July, Christ the Redeemer was named one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, and it inspires millions of visits from tourists and religious pilgrims per year.
Living in the Midwest, I do all I can to avoid scheduling flights in and out of O’Hare Airport in Chicago. I’m always hearing nightmare stories from other travelers, particularly during the holidays, about flights that were either delayed or cancelled altogether. So perhaps it should provide some comfort– but it doesn’t– to read an article about the world’s most-delayed airports, and see that O’Hare barely gets a mention.
The country that wins the dubious honor of having the most-delayed airports is, somewhat surprisingly, Brazil. Brasilia International Airport is the worst in the world for on-time departures, with about 27% of all flights leaving on time. Airports in Sao Paolo (41%) and Congenhas (43%) are only slightly better. Other notoriously late airports worldwide include those in Cairo, Beijing, Mumbai, and Charles de Gaulle in Paris– Europe’s worst.
In the US, three New York-area airports are singled out for their late arrivals: LaGuardia, Newark, and the worst, JFK, with about 40% of its flights late.
Needless to say, if you’re traveling through any of the above airports, bring a magazine. If you’re traveling through Brazil, bring Tolstoy.
Whole thing here.
Most travelers to Africa and South America have heard of Yellow Fever, even if only because there are countries within that have mandatory vaccinization requirements. People that live in these “Yellow Fever Zones” (an estimated 508 million in Africa alone) know this disease as a killer. This is also what is happening in Brazil.
ProMED mail, from the International Society of Infectious Disease, recently reported a third case and second fatality from YF since the new year. The latest case involved a 24-year-old man from the region of Goianesa. In 2008, there are 26 suspected cases, three confirmed, and 17 pending results of labwork. Six of the suspected cases have been excluded. Brazil also reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) that monkeys were dying of YF, in December 2007.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta has also released an outbreak notice and stresses the importance of the vaccine for travelers heading to yellow fever areas.
Immunization is the traditional preventative measure against Yellow Fever, and the in Congonhas airport in Sao Paulo — a major travel hub for the region — 1000 people a day are receiving the free vaccine. Savvy travelers may have heard news of a few vaccine associated deaths recently, in Peru. The vaccines in question were manufactured in Brazil, by Bio-Manguinos. All deaths are still under investigation and believed to be associated with the same lot numbers. The vaccines used in North America are from a seperate manufacturer, Sanofi-pasteur. All vaccines from the batch in question, and several from related lots, have been removed.
The Yellow Fever vaccine is considered relatively safe and effective by the CDC. Administered as a single dose under the skin, the vaccine is a live virus. Contraindications to the vaccine are people who are pregnant, immunocompromised or less than 9 months old. Interestingly, the vaccine is grown in chicken eggs and is also to be avoided by those with egg allergies. WHO advises the vaccine be given routinely to children in endemic areas, around the age of 9 months to one year of age. For travelers who are not candidates for the vaccine, a waiver is possible.
Why do you need the vaccine? Besides the country requirements for entry, the disease can be fatal.
Here is some basic information on the disease:
Basics: An Arbovirus spread via arthropods (mosquitos) in the genus Flavivirus. Symptoms include fever, head and backaches, fatigue and nausea. May progress to hemorrhagic complications and/or liver failure. Jaundice is also common. This is a vaccine preventable disease and proof of vaccinization is often required at customs.
Location: Only in Africa and South America. No reported cases in Asia, although the required mosquito species is present to carry the disease.
Transmission/Incubation: Bites from infected Aedes species mosquitoes in cities or Haemagogus species in jungles. The main vector is Aedes Aegypti in urban areas and an incubation of 3-6 days.
Prevention: Vaccination lasts for 10 years and is a live virus. Contraindicated with egg allergy, immunocompromised, pregnancy or less that 9 months old individuals. Mosquito awareness/ bite prevention is the other key.
Diagnosis: Antibodies to YF through a blood draw.
Treatment: This is a vaccine preventable disease, treatment once infected is supportive.
Resources:
What better way to hide that you are going to get your physical imperfections perfected than to say you are off to Brazil for the Carnival! A nip and tuck here and there, some suction down and under, followed by some raucous dancing, drinking, and bronzing on the beach will make you a new person and everyone will think it was your holiday! That’s the main pitch of an ever growing wave of surgery tourism in South America, with Brazil being the center of it all.
Brazil has long been the cosmetic surgery capital of the world, providing easy, not to mention cheap, access to qualified cosmetic surgeons. Brazilians have no shame touching up their bodies so they can flaunt their “dental floss” thongs. Prime example is Brazilian carnival star and supermodel Angela Bismarchi who plans to dance at this year’s Rio carnival (2-6 February) almost nude in front of a 300-person drum group after her 42nd (!!!) plastic surgery. Nylon wires will be implanted in her eyes to make them look Asian so they accentuate the theme of her parade team that will celebrate the centennial of Japanese immigration to Brazil.
I wasn’t surprised to read that Brazil is an image-mad country where the pressure to look hot is so high, even the poor get surgical enhancements on an installment; it’s an added bonus that Brazilian butt and belly surgeons are amongst the best in the world. According to an article in the Guardian: Exact figures are hard to come by, [but] it’s known that Americans spent around $12.4bn (£6.5bn) on plastic surgery in 2005, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery; they say Brazil is not far behind.
So whether you want to look oriental, or scrape off some flab and not be too obvious about it, there is definitely a cosmetic surgery tourism package for you. Frommers has a decent round-up of your options, check them out here.
Carnival spirit is in the air, and since it’s cold and raining outside my window, I am happy to dream about more exotic places. A popular one for the pre-Lent festivities is of course Brazil. Common spots to take part in the action are big cities Rio de Janeiro and Salvador, but as the tourists come in, the locals go out and head for the off-the-beaten-track destinations.
This weekend’s New York Times gives us an article about these lesser known celebratory Carnival locations, like Laguna and São Luiz do Paraitinga. Don’t worry, although smaller than the bigger cities, they still promise the colors, sounds and flair that the holiday is known for.
The drawback? Carnival starts on Friday, last minute tickets to Brazil are more than $1000, and accommodations are pretty booked, so without flight or hotel reservations, you might want to consider planning ahead for Carnival 2009.
